The race, and the drama, rolls on, at Le Mans. Pegasus Racing has more issues. Not sure who was in the car. But, the Mulsanne corner is a tough one to brake for. Lots of debris can be deposited if the cars go through these gravel traps, with the heavy, sharp, arrowhead like gravel, here at Le Mans. A slow zone will neutralize the cars, where the issue is with the #28 car, slowing the area down to 80 kilometers an hour (50 miles an hour). Toyota, is in the lead at the moment, and again, we see SAFER barriers here at Le Mans, the first track in Europe with SAFER barriers. Tohyota pits. Now, Stephane Sarrazin will get in the car. Game over for WeatherTech Racing. The #89 Porsche driven by Leh Keen and Marc Miller, both of them, will have an early dinner tonight, and get plenty of sleep, as they have an early end to their Le Mans endeavor.
Toyota, and other teams, they rehearse their pit stops one way. But, you are allowed only four mechanics and one air impact hammer, in the pit lane. You can have multiple air guns but can't cross the line in front of the garage doors. You cannot step over that line until the car stops, and you cannot take tools over it until the fueling is complete. Sebastien Bourdais has stayed in front of Scott Dixon for the time being. Matteo Malucelli has a short lead over the Ford, in the Ferrari 488 GTE. The slow zone has been removed from Mulsanne corner. Communicate with your team, so you know that the slow zone has been taken away. On the run to Indianapolis, Bourdais passes Malucelli. Timo Bernhard, leading in the overall, is moving in. He sweeps wide right past the GT cars.
The LED lights cause a strobe, and the new rule is, you can flash the lights only one time. Timo Bernhard has driven in both classes. White lights for Prototypes. Amber headlight lenses on the GT cars. The sun is lowering to the horizon. It will be nightfall soon at Le Mans. Great battles in LM GTE Am, and one of the teams is Scuderia Corsa. Jeff Segal, Townsend Bell, and Bill Sweedler. Another hour, is going by fast. Ford GT's run first, second, and fourth, in LM GTE Pro. Scott Dixon and Billy Johnson, the two rookies, are going well. As a driver, do your job. The third driver, cannot be a hero. He has to put in laps, and hand the car back to his team mates, the way they want it to be turned over to them.
Multimatic and Larry Holt, along with George Howard Chappel are running the UK arm of CGR Ford. Lucas di Grassi in the #8 Audi believes he has a vibration to contend with in the car. Rebellion is back on track. They have persevered to this point, but the small gremlins have popped up, here at Le Mans. There is a yellow flag someplace. The #57 AAI Corvette C7R is in the gravel trap someplace. Ooh! Timo Bernhard, locked the brakes, and missed the slow zone. Did he get slowed down to 80 clicks? He may have to incur a penalty. With the sun setting, it is hard to see as well. Shadows grow long. The #44 Manor Racing machine which had led LMP2, is now in the garage.
The team is in no hurry. Graeme Loudon, technical/sporting Director for LMP2, said that it's a challenge when you have to react when there's a problem. You have a smaller team and everything has to be practiced. The #30 ESM car is in the pits. The top teams have chains of people, and inventories of parts, that have already been bedded in. The #2 Porsche pits. Nine-time Le Mans winner, Tom Kristensen, is being interviewed by both Fox Sports and Danish TV. He insists "I am not a pit reporter!" Hardy har har!
Khaled al Qubaisi leads LM GTE Am. Audi takes care of their own. They still keep their former drivers, involved with the program. Another slow zone. Christian Ried is running well in the #78 KCMG Porsche 911 RSR in LM GTE Am. The racing has been fabulous so far! Cars go through the slow zone at the beginning of the Porsche curves. Everyone thought the Oreca was the chassis to have in LMP2. But, the Alpine is also performing very, very well. Marino Franchitti has put one of the Ford GT's off the road at the end of the staight. This is the #67 car that nhas been in the wars for most of the day.
Franchitti got in really deep and slid into the gravel. We have another slow zone up and running at the moment. The sister #66 Ford GT of Billy Johnson, pits. Marino Franchitti was carrying 178 kilometers an hour (111 miles an hour) into Mulsanne, when he flew off the road. Sebastien Bourdais, still leads LM GTE Pro. Three fours remain in the top four of LM GTE Pro, with Ferrari in second as the #68 Ford, is in the lane. Giancarlo Fisichella remains at the wheel of the Ferrari 488 GTE for Risi Competizione. Marino Franchitti makes it to the garage as we are nearly done with the sixth hour of this race.
Timo Bernhard will have to live with flat spotted tires through the remainder of this stint. The good news about flat spotted tires, is, the flat spots, can wear away. But, under braking, the tire still wants to flat spot. Alpine leads LMP2 at this point. The Nissan engine is the one to have, in LMP2. Rebellion has had issues today, so far, after good races at Silverstone and Spa Francorchamps. The Alpine, is another Oreca, that has been re-branded. It is what is known in the auto industy as "badge engineering". Alpine's used to be Renault powered coupes, and there was a prototype version of the car, that raced later on. The Signatech team that runs the car, has run in sports cars and in Formula 3.
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